It seems Kathleen Turner has finally smartened up a bit. Turner infamously accused actor Nicolas Cage of some crazy stuff back in the day – everything from saying he was arrested twice for DUIs to stealing a Chihuahua. Most of this was mentioned in the context of their working relationship while filming “Peggy Sue Got Married” in 1986. Imagine if one of your old coworkers from twenty years ago publicly accused you of stealing tiny purse dogs. It’d be hard to know how to react. Cage filed a libel lawsuit against Turner in the UK, and today she and her publisher apologized to the actor.

Cage’s UK solicitor Simon Smith said the Oscar-winning actor was “extremely pleased” with the outcome of the case “since he has never been arrested for drink driving, dog theft or anything else. As an actor who stars in many family-friendly films and who has a young child and teenager of his own, Mr Cage was understandably upset at having been wrongly depicted as condoning that sort of reckless, dangerous and criminal behaviour.” The actor, he continued, was “gratified that the defendants have done the right thing by acknowledging their errors and making amends”.

The actress, UK publisher Headline and Associated Newspapers, which extracted the book in the Daily Mail, have also made a substantial donation to charity. The donation will be made to the National Adult Protective Services Foundation, a US charity which benefits vulnerable adults. The Daily Mail has agreed to publish an apology and remove the article from its website. Headline [UK publisher] has also agreed to insert a correction and apology into copies of Turner’s book.

[From the BBC]

So we know that Kathleen Turner has officially apologized to Nicolas Cage in the UK, as have her UK publishers. I wonder if Cage will seek similar amends here, or if Turner’s general apology is enough. I’m still shocked that Turner’s publishers agreed to let her write that. Obviously they got a lot of press for it and increased sales, but I can’t imagine that would outweigh the cost of potential litigation. On the one hand, I can’t imagine a relatively sane adult thinking it’s a good idea to just make up random stories. On the other… why in the world would Nicolas Cage steal a Chihuahua? Turner has struggled with some drinking issues of her own; perhaps her memory of the time is a bit shaky. No matter what, it’s good that Cage has cleared his name, though I’m not sure many people gave the accusations much credence.